Ukraine volunteer groups turn to bitcoin crowdfunding for the country’s military and logistics as Russian invasion looms

moneycontrol.com:

About 100 miles from the Ukrainian border, in the regions of Kursk and Voronezh, more than 1,00,000 Russian troops have already amassed ahead of an impending global fear that Russia might invade Ukraine.

And in order to supplement the country’s military and logistical resources to stave off an all-out catastrophic war, Ukrainian volunteer groups are increasingly turning to bitcoin and crypto crowdfunding, per data from Elliptic, a blockchain firm specialising in developing analytics tools for platforms like Binance and Circle.

“Volunteer group operations have included attacks on propaganda sites, the Russian Ministry of Defense, and various individuals linked to Russia’s activities in Ukraine. Intelligence collected during these operations is reportedly shared with Ukrainian law enforcement and intelligence agencies,” according to the report.

Per Tom Robinson, Elliptic’s chief scientist, “Cryptocurrency is increasingly being used to crowdfund war, with the tacit approval of governments. It is also particularly suited to international fundraising because it doesn’t respect national boundaries and it’s censorship-resistant — there is no central authority that can block transactions, for example in response to sanctions”.

Donations worth thousands of dollars have been flowing into various Ukranianan non-governmental organizations and volunteer groups. Several cryptocurrency wallets of these NGOs and volunteer groups have collectively received around $5,70,000 worth of funds over the last year, the report noted.

Among the groups receiving donation inflows in Bitcoin include Come Back Alive, which augments the Ukrainian military with essential equipment, training services, and medical supplies. At the receiving end of bitcoin